


Counting Crows

by kiite



Series: Blackbirds and Beeforce [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-01 10:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13996755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiite/pseuds/kiite
Summary: Shinji knows the superstitions about seeing crows. He also knows that most crows are black, not orange, so maybe this is an exception.





	1. Bad Luck

**Author's Note:**

> heres a fic based on the superstition of seeing a certain number of crows... if youre not familiar: seeing 1 is bad luck, 2 is good luck, 3 means health, 4 means wealth, 5 means sickness, and 6 means death. 
> 
> each chapter is a different time shinji runs into crow, so each chapter will follow one of those themes. hope u enjoy! :^)

The first time Shinji saw Crow, they were both just children.

It was another typical day in Satellite: overcast, gray, and pretty shitty. Shinji was wandering through the dump, picking through the scrap for parts he could sell. He was only nine, which might be considered young in Neo Domino City, but in Satellite he might as well be twenty. Shinji lived with a few other boys who all watched out for each other and resold scrap they found in the junkyard; he wasn’t particularly close to any of them, but they were the closest thing he had to family. It was a place to sleep and a roof over his head, so he couldn’t complain.

As he wandered through the piles of rusted metal and garbage, something caught his eye. He squatted down and sifted carefully through the scrap, being extremely careful not to cut or scrape himself. His eyes lit up as he pulled out what he knew to be a pretty pricey D-Wheel part, which appeared to be in working condition. The money he would make off this part would keep him fed for a week.

A bright patch of color against the gray sky grabbed Shinji’s attention as he stood back up. Atop one of the adjacent piles of scrap, a young boy, likely only a year or two younger than Shinji, was looking down at something in his hands. Shinji found himself staring at the boy’s vibrant orange hair, and before he had the chance to look away he realized the boy had looked up and met his eyes.

Shinji tried to avert his eyes, pretending as though he hadn’t been staring; but when he heard the sounds of the other boy’s footsteps, he knew he had been caught. Great, he thought to himself, mildly annoyed. Shinji tended to avoid unnecessary interactions with strangers; he found them to be a bother. Before he knew it, however, the other boy was next to him, blinking up at him with owlish eyes.

For a while, the kid just studied him; Shinji only thought it fair to study him in return. He was about a head shorter than Shinji, with wild, untamed orange locks that could use a good washing. His clothes were ragged and torn in places, and were probably getting too small for him. Now that he was at close range, Shinji could see what the boy was holding; it was a small stack of Duel Monsters cards.

Shinji had no plans of speaking first, so he waited to see what the younger boy would say. He expected something typical like “What’s your name?” or “What are you doing here?”, but he got neither. The longer the kid stared at him, the more Shinji considered the possibility that he couldn’t speak.

Just as Shinji was about to break his self-imposed rule on silence, the kid looked down at his cards and searched through them, studying each one carefully until he reached the one he wanted. He plucked the card out of the stack, shoved the stack back into his pocket, and stuck out his hand with the card to Shinji.

“This one!” he said, smiling widely. He was holding the card gently by the top edge, presenting it to Shinji. The edges of the card were soft and faded, showing its age and wear. Shinji considered telling the boy that he didn’t play Duel Monsters, and had no interest in it, but the boy’s eager face shut him up. He reached out and gently accepted the gift, looking down to investigate it.

The card’s name was “Killer Needle”. Depicted on it was, according to the text, a large bee. Even to someone who had never touched the game, Shinji could tell this card was nothing special; the attack and defense values were below average, and it had no effect of any kind. He looked from the card back at the kid, who was watching him expectantly.

“Uh… thanks?” Shinji said, quite confused about this gift he had received. It had come out of nowhere and left him clueless. The boy beamed even wider and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Be careful with it! It’s important.” he said, nodding thoughtfully. Before Shinji could make any further inquiry, the boy smiled and waved, and bounded off the way he’d come. Shinji was left standing in the scrapyard, salvage in one hand and a mediocre Duel Monsters card in the other. He tucked the card gently into his back pocket.

Shinji was so deeply confused and bewildered by this interaction that he failed to hear the telltale roar of a D-Wheel until it was already in sight. He whipped his head around towards the noise; this junkyard was technically off-limits, and Shinji could get in trouble for being here. His fears were confirmed: a Security officer was dismounting and already running towards him, shouting something Shinji couldn’t quite make out. He turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could away from the oncoming officer.

His efforts proved futile as he felt a gloved hand grab the back of his shirt collar and yank him upwards. Shinji squeaked in surprise and dropped the D-Wheel part, wincing as he heard a terrible crack as it hit the ground. The officer placed his other hand around Shinji’s neck and turned the boy to face him, scowling.

“I thought I already told you not to come here.” the officer growled, his angry eyes just barely visible behind the visor of his helmet. Shinji struggled to break free of his grip, grabbing his arm with both his hands and attempting to pull it off to no avail. The man’s scowl shifted into a twisted sneer, and Shinji was instantly on edge.

“Well if you’re not going to listen,” the officer said, reaching his free hand to grab his baton, “I guess I’m just going to have to beat it into you.” He drew his black baton, and lifted it into the air.

Instinctively, Shinji curled up as much as possible in his elevated state. He pulled his knees up to his stomach and ducked his head behind his arms. Shinji shut his eyes and did his best to keep still, but he knew he was shaking. Violence from Security was not unusual by any means; there had even been murders in the past, because Security officers faced no real consequences for killing residents of Satellite. _This is where I die_ , Shinji thought to himself, terrified.

The strike that Shinji was prepared for never came. Instead, there was a quiet _crack_ that seemed to echo around the scrapyard. Shinji blinked his eyes open cautiously, and was greeted by the sight of the officer looking around in confusion.

Before long, another small object flew towards the man and struck his helmet, making the same _crack_ noise. This time, the culprit was clearly visible: the orange haired boy from earlier, standing atop a nearby pile of junk. He had a pile of small rocks in one hand, and another rock ready to throw in the other. Even from his current position, Shinji could tell the boy was just as scared as he was, but there was a determination to his stance that Shinji envied. The boy drew back his arm and threw his readied rock, striking the man on the helmet once again.

After the third strike, the officer dropped Shinji to the ground and turned his full attention to his assailant. He was already shouting obscenities and moving towards the boy, baton in hand. Shinji’s savior gave him one last smile before he began running for his own life. He had a good lead on the officer and was moving rather fast; Shinji had the feeling he would easily outrun the man.

Shinji’s head was still spinning from everything that had happened, but his instincts told him he needed to get away from this place. He cast a cursory glance down at the D-Wheel part, unfortunately realizing that it was probably beyond salvage at this point. He scrambled to his feet and hurried to the exit, nearly tripping over his own feet as he ran.

After running for several minutes straight, Shinji allowed himself to rest in an abandoned building. He leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, gasping to catch his breath. The incident had left him shaken up; Shinji wouldn’t return to that scrapyard for a good while. If that boy hadn’t been there… Shinji didn’t want to think about exactly what would have happened to him.

His mind wandered back to the lost part, and he sighed sadly. Losing such easy money was a massive disappointment, especially when he was already very low on funds. As much as he didn’t want to return empty handed, Shinji didn’t feel like he had it in him to go do another search. This day had turned out to be even shittier than he has expected.

Without really thinking about it, Shinji reached back and drew the Duel Monsters card out of his back pocket, where it had remained safe. Despite everything, he felt a small smile creep on to his face. _Well_ , Shinji thought to himself, _maybe it wasn’t all shitty_.


	2. Good Luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting this chapter from my phone so sorry if the formatting is off

The second time Shinji saw Crow, Shinji was on the run.

After a week of planning, Shinji initiated his plan to raid one of Security’s warehouses. All throughout Satellite, Security had large buildings which housed confiscated items: chief among them, decks, duel disks, and D-Wheels. All these items sat dormant for years; Security never had any intent of returning any confiscated item.

Shinji’s plan was simple: target one of the lesser warehouses with fewer guards, take a few pricey items, and get out. It wasn’t like Security would even notice they were missing, and the original owners could never be traced as Security didn’t both keeping up the proper documentation, so Shinji felt no guilt about stealing them. Better that they were putting food in his mouth than gathering dust in the dark.

The first part of Shinji’s plan had gone off without a hitch; he easily infiltrated the large facility through a window, sneaking past the two guards he saw along the way. Once inside, he stuffed a quite a few decks and three duel disks into a sack. Shinji had no intention of stealing a D-Wheel; that was an extremely risky move, and having never driven one, he was certain he would get caught very quickly.

As he made his way back towards the window, he heard a shout and saw a flashlight illuminate where he stood. Through the window he could see someone pointing at him and gesturing. Shit, Shinji thought, his mind racing as he turned and ran away from his exit. He desperately searched for another means of egress, quickly spotting another window slightly higher up on the opposite wall. He scrambled on top of a stack of boxes and made his way out the other window, emerging into the darkness of the night.

It was at this point that Shinji realized he had another problem: he didn’t know the layout of the streets on this side. He had planned his escape route under the assumption that he would be exiting the same way he came in; but now he was suddenly in a tangle of back alleys he hadn’t planned for. He grew more panicked as he heard the sounds shouting and saw the glow of flashlights approaching. Just as he was about to break into a blind run, a shape flew down from the roof of a nearby building and landed in front of him.

Standing before Shinji was a familiar face; familiar, aside from the golden marker stamped in the middle of his forehead. It was the same boy from five years ago. His hair was still orange and wild, an unmistakable sign of his identity. He looked to be around twelve or thirteen now, wearing a sleeveless jacket lined with off-white fur. Shinji just stared at him, surprised by both his sudden entrance and by seeing him again.

The shorter boy narrowed his eyes and studied Shinji, looking him over. Then, without warning, he grabbed Shinji’s hand with his own and started running. Surprised, Shinji ran as well, not wanting to be dragged along. The boy lead him through the maze of alleys until eventually they ended up in an empty clearing, far away from the sweeping lights of Security.

With his hand released, Shinji put his hands on his knees and caught his breath. The other boy was also recovering from the run, though he didn’t seem as winded as Shinji.

As soon as he could speak, Shinji turned to his savior. “T…Thanks for the save back there…” he panted. “And… I don’t know if you remember, but thanks for the save a few years back. I never got the chance to say it…” He trailed off, waiting for any sort of change in his companion’s face or demeanor.

For a few minutes, the boy’s face was screwed up in confusion and thought, looking Shinji over again. He was clearly trying to remember something from his past, running through faces and memories. Just as Shinji was beginning to think it was a lost cause, the boy’s face lit up with realization.

“Oh! It’s you, from the scrapyard! I’m glad you made it out ok!” He was beaming, giving Shinji a thumbs-up. Shinji smiled back, before he was struck by a terrible thought. As much as he feared the answer, he knew he needed to ask.

“Your marker…” Shinji said quietly, and the other boy instinctively raised his hand to his forehead. “Did you… Back then, did you…” Shinji trailed off, unable to finish the question. The boy looked momentarily puzzled, before realization dawned on him. He shook his head rapidly and held his hands up in front of him.

“No way! I outran that jerk by a mile!” He was smiling again. “I got this when I was ten, ‘cause I did something real dumb.” A flash of seriousness crossed over his face, and was gone as quickly as it had come. “You gotta be more careful though, dude. If I hadn’t been up there and seen you, your face woulda ended up like mine.”

Shinji blushed a bit, embarrassed by his derailed plan. “Yeah… I had a plan, but it got messed up. Thanks again for helping me. By the way…” Shinji added as he realized something, “What were you doing up on that roof?”

The boy opened his mouth to reply, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, when a voice shouted something from somewhere nearby. Shinji immediately tensed and prepared to run, but when his companion yelled something back, he stopped.

“Sorry, that’s my team, I gotta go.” He turned to bolt away, but froze. He faced Shinji again, closing the gap between them and taking his hand in a firm handshake.

“I never introduced myself! I’m Crow Hogan, member of Team Satisfaction and future pro Turbo Duelist!” He shook Shinji’s hand enthusiastically, still grinning.

Shinji was shocked by the sudden contact, and his hand was limp in the other’s grip. He quickly returned to his senses and shook back, not wanting to seem rude. “I’m Shinji Weber. Uh… Unaffiliated and unplanned?”

Crow laughed, releasing Shinji’s hand. “You’re a pretty cool guy, Shinji. See you around sometime!” With that, he ran off into the woods, just as the same voice shouted what Shinji now knew to be Crow’s name again. Shinji just stood in place, processing everything that had happened tonight.

Unconsciously, his hand ghosted over his back pocket, where Killer Needle resided in a cheap card protector. A Professional Turbo Duelist, huh?


End file.
